On Friday 27th May at 6am we boarded a bus to leave the city but 25 minutes later we were forced to turn round as the road was still blocked & the bus company were not prepared to risk the amount of stone-throwing at those vehicles trying to escape! The large number of stones , boulders , and people on the roads was incredible & from watching the local news it seemed that every road out of La Paz was the same.

We were becoming a bit concerned because the tension in the city was mounting & there seemed to be deadlock in talks between the government & the protestors.Threats of worse riots the following week were reported. We liked La Paz , found the political situation interesting but we were ready to leave & certainly did not want to spend another week or more there. All flights out of La Paz were fully booked & there were a lot of us in the same situation , some people a lot more desperate than us as their trips were coming to an end & they had to make connecting flights from Lima , for example within a couple of days.

We were all on standby waiting for the bus/ tourist companies to review the situation & say they would try again. But they knew they had to try & get us out before Monday as the situaion was worsening.

Sunday 6am we left on a different route. Most of us really wanted to go to Copacabana , a small peninsula of Bolivia surrounded by Peru on one side & Lake Titicaca on the other 3 sides. This route was out of the question & we travelled toDesaguadero on the Bolivia /Peru border & finally made our escape. All was quiet , no real problems , glad to be out , we caught another bus to Puno.